Dennis Malloy and Judi Franco returned to the airwaves Monday after a 10-day suspension for calling New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal "turban man" on air.

Grewal is the country's first Sikh attorney general and wears a turban and a beard as an observance of his religion. Before taking one of the top spots in Gov. Phil Murphy's administration, Grewal served as the Bergen County prosecutor.

The pair apologized to Grewal and the Sikh and Asian communities in a written statement on the radio station's website. In the statement, they said they use "humor and sarcasm to make a point and add color to the broadcast; in this instance, we were off the mark."

Franco called it an "emotional whirlwind" of a week and said she looks forward to moving on.

In a minute-long audio clip from their show, Malloy and Franco refer to Grewal as "turban man" or "the guy with the turban" five times in discussing his decision to adjourn all low-level marijuana cases for the next month.

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"You know the attorney general — I'm never going to know his name. I'm just going to say 'the guy with the turban,' " Malloy says.

Franco responds, "OK," then adds in a drawn-out voice, "turban man."

Moments later, Malloy asks, "Is that highly offensive?"

Franco responds, "To me? No. To people who wear turbans? Could be."

Malloy agrees, but then explains his justification for using the term. "If you called me 'baseball hat man' and I was in a culture where nobody wore baseball hats and they called me 'baseball hat man,' should I be offended?"

At one point, Malloy says this: "Listen, and if that offends you, then don't wear the turban and maybe I'll remember your name."

Grewal also addressed the controversy in a Twitter post directed at the radio station.

“My name, for the record, is Gurbir Grewal,” he wrote on Twitter. “I’m the 61st Attorney General of NJ. I’m a Sikh American. I have 3 daughters. And yesterday, I told them to turn off the radio.”

Murphy expressed his displeasure at Franco and Malloy's comments and called them "awful" and "disgusting."

The story continues below the video.

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Governor Murphy condemns remarks made by radio hosts aimed at New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal
Chris Pedota, NorthJersey

The radio station will be holding awareness training for its employees after the slur and will have a community meeting at Guru Singh Sabha Sikh, a temple in Glen Rock that is attended by Grewal. The attorney general, however, will not attend the community meeting.

Sharon Lauchaire, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Attorney General's Office, said Grewal has "moved on from this incident" and is focused on the work of the state.

"As a result, he does not believe that his presence at any particular event with the radio hosts is necessary, but he appreciates their interest in learning more about the Sikh religion and hopes that this can serve as a teachable moment for the hosts and others,'' she said in an email. "As the attorney general has said, 'words matter, and comments can lead to conduct,' and he hopes that last week's incident will encourage all New Jerseyans to recommit to civility and respect in our public discourse."